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I am hoping to get answers on here, because I know that being a single female, every mechanic is going to try to screw me over, one way or another....and i have a feeling that my problem is very minor, so I would hate to be taken to the cleaners.
I have 2000 Ford F150 4x4 (please, no Ford jokes, this is the truck I had bought my husband, now exhusband and I hate it..and had to sell the Dodge DIESEL dually that i drove cuz I owed more on that)
When I am driving, I hear a very soft click-click and see the lights where the odometer is go on and off very quickly, just for a brief moment. Nothing changes with engine power etc.
About 6 weeks ago, the same thing happened but even worse-all my headlights would go off briefly as I was driving (including everything on the panel). And then one day, my truck wouldnt start. I had a friend who looked at it, and said it must be the alternator, so he took it out, took it to AutoZone, sure enough, their diagnostics said it was DEAD. So my friend installed the new alternator that I bought. Truck started, no further problems.....until about 3 weeks ago, the soft click click and the lights on the dash flickering on and off....so i brought it to AutoZone to check if maybe my brand new alternator or brand new battery were the culprit-they said nope. After that, I had no problems, until today, and once again, it's doing that soft click-click and everything on the dashboard flickering on and off occasionally. Don't know if it would be doing the headlights off stuff too cuz I aint driven in the dark the past few days.
What do you think it could be? A spark plug or something?
What would you do?
Last edited by NOTAM; 10-18-2008 at 09:26 PM..
Reason: add
Location: Finally escaped The People's Republic of California
11,317 posts, read 8,656,908 times
Reputation: 6391
Sounds like you have something loose around the battery, clean all your terminals( get rid of the white stuff, just mix some backing soda and water, and clean all the connections and wear the gloves you have for washing dishes, then throw them away) make sure your connections are tight....
ps Blonde Bimbo's with pickup trucks, Bassman's favorite........
when i got the new battery put in, the cable thangs/connections were totally corroded and they cleaned em up. also the clamp thangs were not giving a good connection or sumpin', so the mechanic cut the cords and put some new heavy duty clamp thangs on there. so i know i have new clamps and the terminals should be clean but i will go check again. i heard coke will work too, aint that so?
thanks for answering!
p.s. lots of blonde bimbos drivin trucks here, you're in the wrong state, bassman!
and this blonde bimbo dont wash dishes-my dishwasher does-yes even out here in the sticks in Texas we have dishwashers and plumbing ha ha....but i do have gloves-i always have a pair for pickin' up roadkill-i collect varmint skulls to decorate the outhouse walls with-looks pretty dang cool if i say so myself!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cali BassMan
Sounds like you have something loose around the battery, clean all your terminals( get rid of the white stuff, just mix some backing soda and water, and clean all the connections and wear the gloves you have for washing dishes, then throw them away) make sure your connections are tight....
ps Blonde Bimbo's with pickup trucks, Bassman's favorite........
Last edited by NOTAM; 10-18-2008 at 10:28 PM..
Reason: add
Well, you have somewhat narrowed down your own problem. Engine runs fine...dash lights flicker could be a loose connection under the dash...could be arcing on a wire connection (click, click sound). If the clicking is with the headlite switch on...could be the switch. Headlite switch controls the dash lites, head lites, tail lites, dome lite. A short like this can drain the battery. I'm a retired mechanic who bought a car that had a engine fire with repaired/taped wire which was okay for two yrs and all of a sudden started to drain the battery after not driving 4-5 days. I did replace the wire from the ignition key to the starter solenoid that helped a lot. Still keeps draining and I'm sure its in the wire harness that cannot be seen...changing it may be my last recourse. So much for my headache. Check under the dash as you don't want to have a under the dash fire. I had that happen to me in a old 65 1/2 ton Chevy PU I owned 30 yrs ago. Steve
It isn't a sparkplug.
It may be the multi function switch.
The multi function switch is the headlight dimmer, turn signal, etc, switch. In other words, the lever controlled switch on the left side of the steering column.
I worked for a company that had a fleet of these vehicles.
We were always replacing the multifunction switches due to problems that you have described.
Replacing it is something you should leave to a qualified mechanic.
Some vehicles have circuit breakers on headlights. If you have a short in headlight wiring the breaker could be tripping and resetting. This would cause the blinking and clicking. Is blinking and clicking syncronized? How fast is it blinking & clicking?
the clicking was happening yesterday during broad daylight, when i did not have my headlights on. i could see the odometer lights go on and off quickly and heard the soft clicking.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Bagu
Well, you have somewhat narrowed down your own problem. Engine runs fine...dash lights flicker could be a loose connection under the dash...could be arcing on a wire connection (click, click sound). If the clicking is with the headlite switch on...could be the switch. Headlite switch controls the dash lites, head lites, tail lites, dome lite. A short like this can drain the battery. I'm a retired mechanic who bought a car that had a engine fire with repaired/taped wire which was okay for two yrs and all of a sudden started to drain the battery after not driving 4-5 days. I did replace the wire from the ignition key to the starter solenoid that helped a lot. Still keeps draining and I'm sure its in the wire harness that cannot be seen...changing it may be my last recourse. So much for my headache. Check under the dash as you don't want to have a under the dash fire. I had that happen to me in a old 65 1/2 ton Chevy PU I owned 30 yrs ago. Steve
yes synchronized....kinda fast...like a "tick tock" rythym.
Quote:
Originally Posted by studedude
Some vehicles have circuit breakers on headlights. If you have a short in headlight wiring the breaker could be tripping and resetting. This would cause the blinking and clicking. Is blinking and clicking syncronized? How fast is it blinking & clicking?
so i should go into the mechanic and tell them that i think its the headlight switch, multifunction switch or circuit breaker, right?
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